


Simple & Plain

by louisianaspell



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Broadway References, Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019, Character Death, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, Inaccuracies, Possible Endgame Spoilers, Reader-Insert, Time Travel, but not really, non Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:10:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisianaspell/pseuds/louisianaspell
Summary: Being sent to the past gives Bucky an opportunity to spend more time with you





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I used some elements from Endgame! I do not think its enough to be a spoiler, but just in case **POSSIBLE ENDGAME SPOILERS**
> 
> If you can’t tell the musical the reader is in is Waitress, I’ve only seen the movie and listened to the play’s soundtrack, so please forgive any inaccuracies. This is for Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019 (square filled: B1/time travel)

Bucky was doing what he does best, hiding in the shadows as the scent of freshly baked pie fills the air around him. He knows he shouldn’t be here, everyone had warned him to stay away before he left for this mission. But in his defense, how could he possibly not take advantage of this opportunity? It’s like the universe was trying to make amends for all the shit it put him through for seventy years. Consequences be damned, it wasn’t his fault they had sent him back a little too far and it was only a few hours, so what the hell he was gonna treat himself for once.

He can’t help but feel so incredibly proud of you as he watches you perform in that waitress uniform. He knows how hard you worked you to end up on a Broadway stage, all the failed auditions you went on and the bit parts in other less successful musicals before being cast as the lead in this musical. Bucky knows that in a few short weeks you’ll be nominated for a Tony award, he has the video of your reaction to the nomination on saved on his phone that he watches whenever he’s away on missions and misses you. 

One thing that Bucky looks forward to more than anything right now, is the fact that in 143 days from tonight he’s going to meet you for the very first time. 

You’ll be performing at Stark charity event to raise money to fund art and music programs in the city schools. Bucky, of course didn’t want to be there since he still had a problem with crowds and the suit he was forced to wear felt like it was suffocating him. He finds himself hiding out in a hallway far from the party when he hears you doing vocal warm ups and then singing to yourself. Your voice calls out to him, it soothes his anxiety ridden mind. Bucky leans against a wall and just listens to you and that’s where Steve finds him right before you go on stage.

The world around him disappeared when you were on stage singing that night, it was just you and Bucky and each song was meant just for him. For the briefest of moments, you made Bucky believe in the myth of the siren. If it meant being close to you, Bucky would crash a thousand ships.

All too quickly, the play has reached it’s intermission and Bucky so badly wants to run into your dressing room and take you into his arms, but he knows that this not how your story together begins. But it could be if he wants it to and there’s nothing in this universe that he wants more than those extra days with you.

He wants to be the one by your side when you’re woken up with the Tony nomination, he’ll even put aside his hatred of large crowds and tuxedos if it means he can be next to you to hold your hand and comfort you when you don’t win. 

Bucky wants a second shot at being with you because he knows he can get it right this time. He wants to take those extra 143 days and run head first into loving you instead of wasting precious time second guessing himself and denying the fact that it will always be you and only you. He wants to take all the days he tried to convince himself that someone as amazing as you could never love a damaged man like him and replace them with mornings spent tangled up together and nights falling asleep in each other’s arms. 

It’s reckless for him to stand so close to the stage where he runs the chance of being seen, but right now he doesn’t care. The mission and his reason for being in the past are forgotten as he picks up the scent of your shampoo in the air. He can hear you making your way back towards the stage. Bucky has it all planned out in his head, it would be so easy for him to literally run into you. Bucky would apologize for running into you, you’d give him that smile that always makes his day better and if he’s lucky maybe earn a laugh that he misses more than he can explain. He’d conjure up that charming Bucky Barnes from the 1940s and win your heart. 

He is so close to you now, all he’d have to do is reach out and say hello but he’s frozen in place as he watches you pass him by. Bucky sits back in his hiding spot and only pays attention to the play when you’re on stage. 

Bucky wipes away tears from his eyes as you and your male co-star sing his absolute favorite song that you’ve ever sung. He remembers the night you sang it for him. It was the first night you had ever shared a bed together. It was a big step for him that he trusted himself to fall asleep beside you. His screaming and cries for mercy woke you up and when his mind started to clear, he was so afraid you were going to run for the door, he was already chastising himself for ever thinking this could work. Instead of running for the door, you comforted him, you softly asked if it was okay to hold him, he slowly nodded his head and you held him as the post nightmare fog cleared from his mind. 

You moved so that Bucky could rest his head in your lap, your soft fingers pushing his sweat drenched hair off of his face. His breathing started to calm down, you started to softly sing this song to him. Bucky focused on softness in your voice and the lyrics, he never felt a connection to a song until he heard you singing this one for him. 

__

I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes  
They've seen things that you never quite say, but I hear  
Come out of hiding, I'm right here beside you  
And I'll stay there as long as you'll let me

Because you matter to me  
Simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody  
You matter to me  
I promise you do, you, you matter too  
I promise you do, you'll see  
You matter to me

Bucky can’t say the nightmares stopped that night, but having you by his side made it better. There were nights where he felt he was at his lowest, but you were always by his side helping him navigate his way out of the darkness. His safe harbor in the storm. 

He isn’t sure if he can make it through this song, he can already feel the tears threatening to fall down his face. This was the song you were practicing backstage before performing at Stark’s gala and the first song you sang when you performed that night. This is Bucky’s first time seeing you perform it in the play and it gives him a new appreciation for it. He hears a sadness in your voice that Bucky’s never heard before, maybe it’s seeing it in the context of the play.

As much as he wants to focus on your current performance, he can’t help but remember how Wanda dragged him by the arm to meet you. Bucky tried to protest, but Wanda gave him a knowing look. He wants to chastise her for reading his mind without permission but before he can they’re standing in front of you. The smile of your face as you greet the two of them makes him forget Wanda’s transgression. 

It’s understandable that it takes Bucky awhile to warm up to new people, but there is something about you that immediately puts him at ease. He once described it to Steve and Sam as it feeling like his soul recognized yours. He endured weeks of Sam teasing him for acting and sounding like a lovesick teenager, but it was all worth it for the privilege of being yours. 

When the play is over and Bucky finds himself making his to the stage door, he knows you did them as often as you could. Bucky remembers you telling him about the impact of meeting your Broadway idols and how you wanted to give someone else those kind of memories. 

He hangs back while your castmates sign autographs and take photos. After a while it seem like everyone is about to give up when you finally come out. Bucky patiently waits for the crowd to clear before talking to you, he nervously clutches the playbill in his hands. He hears you laughing and he’s reminded not only of how much he misses it but how it fills him with the sense of home.

The crowd is mostly gone as Bucky nervously approaches you with his wrinkled playbill in hand. You greet him with a smile and suddenly he doesn’t care about creating alternate timelines or whatever, the only thing that matters is you. Bucky stands next to you while you sign his program, he somehow manages to find the courage to talk to you. He knows that in the back of his head, he has an unfair advantage since he already knows what to talk about to keep the conversation going, but at this point who cares? Because your smile and laugh is worth it. Bucky asks if you want to grab a drink or coffee with him, internally he starts to panic he doesn’t want you thinking he’s some creep trying to get in your pants. He starts stumbling through apologies and how he hopes he didn’t make you feel uncomfortable.

You softly laugh at him before calming him down and telling him it’s okay. You tell him you’d love to get a drink, coffee, or anything in between with him because if its not safe to do so with an Avenger then what hope is there in the world?

Bucky so badly wants to hold your hand as you lead him to a bar that’s near the theater, his mind floods with all the new possibilities he now has. He doesn’t care that this isn’t how your story together begins, you’re not suppose to have the stirrings in your chest that tells you there’s something special about Bucky while sitting in a bar while listening to him tell you the truth about how Steve Rogers is really a reckless little shit that likes to use the whole “I grew up in the past and don’t understand this technology” thing to get out of things like loading the dishwasher correctly. 

He figures this small change creates a whole new timeline or whatever, he can’t remember what exactly Bruce said before sending him back. He can’t help but feel a bit selfish as he listens to you talk, but who can blame Bucky for wanting more time with you? After everything he’s been through over the years isn’t he allowed be selfish for once in his long life?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to cause Bucky to think about pulling an End Game!Steve and what happens afterwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A user on tumblr asked what could've happened to the reader that would cause Bucky to pursue the reader in the past. This where my mind went. Sorry.

After 1107 days together, days that will include the announcement that you were pregnant with his first child, a little girl you had planned to name after his mother. There will be a day when he will be by your side holding your hand as the doctors tell him there is nothing else they can do. Days will be spent by your bedside watching you slowly waste away. Eventually there will come a day when he and your parents finally make the decision to turn off the machines that are keeping you alive, he’ll press a kiss to your lips before begging you to wake up and telling you he’s not ready to say goodbye as the sounds of your heart monitor flatlining fills the room. Bucky will have a hard time forgiving himself for wasting so many of your precious days together by trying to push you away. He’ll refuse to leave you or let anyone take you from him, so he sits by your bedside with your soft, cold hand his, Bucky says a silent prayer to whatever higher power that is out there listening, begging them to bring you back to him.

There were so many fears Bucky had when he finally realized he was in love with you. Between whatever remains of Hydra and the near constant threat of aliens, your safety was always his top priority. He tried pushing you away in order to keep you safe, but you always found your way back to one another. So instead Bucky made plans and an endless list of backup plans. Code words and phrases indicating the threat level. Safehouses scattered across the country and the world, countless new identities and expertly forged travel documents stashed where only you and Bucky could find them. The one thing he never planned for was some drunk asshole crashing into your car as you drove home after a show.

The scent of lilies fills the air of the funeral home, Bucky is surrounded by the fresh flowers as he tries so hard to keep it together as he watches your family say their goodbyes to you, he nearly lost his composure as he watched your mother sobbing over your open casket. Slowly, one by one, your family and friends leave until it’s just Bucky and the people who had become his family in this new century. Steve puts his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, a simple but comforting gesture, before leaving him alone to say one last goodbye. He presses a final kiss to your forehead and tells you how much he will always love you and Winnie. Sam is the one who gently pulls him away from your casket so the funeral home could finish preparations before you’re moved to the cemetery. He leaves the funeral home never wanting to see or smell lilies ever again.

It is a cold autumn evening, the sun just beginning to set. Bucky stands looking down Broadway with all of its bright lights and marquees, the crowds of people seemingly disappear as he is surrounded by the comforting presence of the team and together they watch as one by one the bright lights of Broadway are dimmed for you.

There are many things in his extraordinarily long life that haunts Bucky, with the help of his therapist and friends he knows and understands that a majority of those things were actions and events that he had no control of, but that doesn’t mean they can’t haunt his mind. However, he knows that he will never regret the decision to meet you at the stage door that night. The smile on your face after the first time Bucky kissed you when he walked you home that night had quickly silenced Bruce and Tony’s voices in his head yelling about alternate branch timelines or whatever. Like everyone keeps reminding him, Bucky deserves to be happy and being there with you is the happiest he’s felt in a very long time.

There are many perks to saving the universe, people no longer view him as a villain, some even approach him on the street thanking him for bringing their loved ones back. So it comes as no surprise that no one questions the story of your return from the grave after they reversed the Snap, after all half of the world’s population was brought back into existence with magic space rocks so who can say it can’t bring people back from the dead. 

Bucky wakes up after a surprisingly peaceful nights sleep, he instinctively reaches out for you only to once again find your side of the bed cold to the touch. He can’t help it when confusion and panic starts to take over his mind, he wonders if everything was just a dream and if he was back in a timeline where you were still gone. He allows himself to relax as the sounds of your singing starts to come through the baby monitor sitting on Bucky’s bedside table. He sits with his back against the upholstered headboard, picks up the small monitor and watches you comfort your infant daughter, Asteria.

I'll be around for you

I'll do whatever it takes

I'll make a million mistakes

I'll make the world safe and sound for you…

The infant continues to fuss in your arms as you finish singing, “you wanna go see if daddy’s awake yet?” You ask her as she babbles.

It’s only a few moments before you walk into your shared bedroom with Asteria cradled in your arms, a smile spreads across Bucky’s face as he reaches out for the now smiling and giggling baby.

“Such a daddy’s girl,” you lovingly mumble, putting her in Bucky’s waiting arms. 

“Mornin’ Princess,” he smiles as he kisses her forehead, you rest your head against his shoulder and Asteria settles against his chest. It is a beautiful life you have created together. A quiet life in an old historic home in upstate New York that you and Bucky lovingly restored, just like you had always planned. There is never a moment that he takes this new life for granted.


End file.
